Aftermath: An Undertale Story
by SupernovaFrisk
Summary: This is a story where, after a Neutral run, the 6 Human Souls are released and fuse to monsters in the Underground. While Flowey is trying to find them, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys must all learn to live with the new Souls. This takes inspiration from "The Thought" (comic) and "Flowey is not a good life coach". I highly suggest checking them out. Id love some feedback. Thanks
1. Prologue

**Aftermath**

By SupernovaFrisk

Prologue: Phone-Call

* * *

 _Note: This isn't very interesting, so you can skip it if you want to get to the good stuff ;b_

 _but I hope you enjoy and don't be afraid to leave a review! Bye!_

* * *

*Ring, ring…

You hear your monster phone's ring a while after you got to the surface.

"heya. is anyone there…?" you hear Sans' familiar, raspy voice over the phone, "well… just calling to say, you made a snowman really happy. … guess i should say something else, too."

"since you left, things down here… are different. with Asgore gone… Undyne became the ruler of the underground. she's decided to destroy every human that comes here. and since the human souls disappeared… she's also looking for a new way to break the barrier… and when she does, she's going to wage war on humanity. i mean, that was Asgore's plan too, but he was really, uh, bad at it."

Sans paused for a moment. You had never heard about Sans' feelings towards Asgore's disdain towards taking Human souls. You have the feeling that many other monsters shared this opinion, however.

Sans went on with his update, "Undyne has also expanded the royal guard massively. she says the first thing she'll do after we get out of here… is take her army… and personally hunt you down and destroy you. meanwhile… i've been knocking on the door to the Ruins… but the woman hasn't been answering me… maybe she's not feeling well?"

You are filled with guilt, knowing that you were the one who took this small part of Sans' life away.

"Hey, Sans, who are you talking to?" you hear Papyrus' yell in the background.

"oh, just the human."

"Oh. Cool. … Wait, did you say 'the human'!? Can I talk to them?"

"sure. knock yourself out," you hear Sans answer as he hands the phone over.

"Hey! Undyne's the Empress now! It's amazing! And she appointed me to be… 'The Most Important Royal Position'! … That's it. That's literally the title."

You hear a hint of disappointment in Papyrus' voice, which makes sense. After all, he still hasn't become a Royal Guard. You ask Papyrus what he does, now that he has "The Most Important Royal Position". He seems to perk up a bit.

"What do I do? She told me to, um, 'stand around and look cute'. Well! That's the perfect job for me! I do that all the time, without trying! Finally! I'm important. And it's all thanks to you, and the horrible things you did. Thank you, human!"

You don't understand why Papyrus is thanking you for this, but you feel happy for him. And, despite yourself, you feel happy that you could help him to become somewhat important.

"Come back and visit sometime! Wait… Undyne would probably kill you. But… You'd get to see me. So you gotta risk it! You gotta! See you soon."

*Click…

You know that you aren't going to risk it.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Souls Give No Solutions

"Good! Great job, Sans! Your attacks are getting stronger by the minute!"

Papyrus and Sans had been training outside for hours, practicing their attacks and magic control. It was certainly tiring, but Papyrus was sure that Sans was much more fatigued than he was. Sans was persistent, he could give him that, but he still needed to be much stronger in order to prevent another Human attack, especially after what had happened.

The Human had left without a second thought. They had gone past his, Undyne's and Alphys' areas of protection. They went to face Asgore, but had to take him down in order to pass through the barrier.

The Underground's order was shaky after Asgore's death. Undyne had taken over the duties of Asgore, and had even given Papyrus "The Most Important Royal Position". He had accepted the position eagerly, despite the long and weird title.

The new Empress, Undyne, and the rest of the Royal Guard was forced to do whatever they could to keep the peace, but it was an unstable system. On top of all this, the six collected Human Souls had been released during what Sans called "The End".

Whatever the reason, now both Papyrus and Sans had Human Souls. Sans had a bright purple one and Papyrus had obtained a yellow Soul. Their new Souls however, wouldn't let them cross the barrier. Sans' guess was that they didn't have much power after going unused for so long, but even he had seemed unsure about that conclusion.

Sans always had almost pre-determined answers to even the most unexpected occurrences. Papyrus hadn't noticed before, but Sans seemed to be very observant, which helped him make these things seem sensible. If Sans was more studious and motivated, he could've been the Royal Scientist.

Papyrus believed that the only way to "break in" these new Souls was to train with them. Test their power. Sans didn't object to that, so there they were, training in the frozen forest right outside of Snowdin.

The two Souls had just appeared a few days ago. The skeleton brothers had no idea where the 4 other Souls went, but Sans seemed sure that the Souls had fused with monsters, same as theirs had. This seemed like sound logic, but Papyrus had heard of Souls occupying inanimate objects as well, so that was an option.

"thanks… bro…" Sans said, huffing.

He didn't appear to be this fatigued before he stopped briefly, but this training regimen was hard. It had to be. After all, it wasn't every day that you woke up with a Human Soul and had to learn to use and control it.

"You're welcome, brother. Why not we take a break?"

Sans was working unusually hard for someone as lazy and unmotivated as him. Papyrus didn't see the reason why, but took it as his attitude rubbing off onto Sans. Still, Papyrus didn't want his brother to over-work himself.

"thanks, but it… feels like… i need to put more… BACKBONE into it… heh."

Sans had almost looked disappointed at the idea of more training, but Papyrus couldn't find any hint of anger in his voice. This made no sense to Papyrus, but Sans didn't make much sense to him half of the time anyway.

"That was really bad, Sans." It had almost not occurred to him that Sans had made a terrible pun due to his exhaustion. "Though you needn't worry. You seem like you need to rest for a bit."

Sans had always been heavier than Papyrus, despite his height. Papyrus didn't know how or why that was exactly, since skeletons couldn't gain weight in the same way other monsters could. Papyrus believed that might be the reason why Sans tired so easily when compared to himself. Maybe Sans was truly "big-boned". Nyeh heh heh.

Sans hesitated slightly, looking almost like a statue, but he took Papyrus' offer and lied down where he stood, his skull hitting the snow with a loud " _poof"_. A jolt of worry shot up Papyrus' spine. Sans had looked just like he would if he were to "fall down".

Papyrus walked over and lied down carefully in the fresh snow next to Sans. "This snow is chilling me to the BONE," Sans said as Papyrus walked over, not bothering to move. Papyrus decided to not react to his brother's horrible pun, partially because he was smiling to himself.

The snow was cold against both of their bones, but the two skeletons didn't mind it as much as 'fleshy' Monsters would. They didn't have much of a body temperature to keep up after all.

It was nice. They were just lying in the snow, watching the glittering stones on the ceiling. Sans said that those were what stars looked like. He didn't know how Sans knew, but Papyrus trusted his brother to tell him the truth about something like that.

With King Asgore dead, there was no Monster left in the Underground who had seen the surface for real. Strangely enough, only the King's family had seen it in person. Not even Gerson had lived that long… Thinking about it made Papyrus question the King's fitted-ness for running an empire for such a long time.

"hey Paps?" Sans was the first to break the tired silence.

"Yes, Sans?"

"do you ever wonder how the Human's doing on the surface?"

"No... Well yes… I'm sure that they are doing fine. Why do you ask?"

"oh, it's nothing important," Sans trailed off.

Papyrus had assumed that the Human had family on the surface. That the innocent Human, Frisk, had fallen here on _accident_. That they had a _home_ up there. That they even _deserved_ to go back home.

Why was Papyrus only now starting to question the ideal that he had convinced himself to be true? Question _himself_ on his decision to spare the Human. After all, he had noticed that the human had gained a small amount of LOVE from somewhere during their fight, and this human _had_ killed Asgore.

Getting any more Monsters up to the surface for real was improbable at best. Monsters had been trapped here for a reason, though unjustified. Monsters were a threat to Humans. They were willing and able to fight and even kill Humans to gain their power.

"Their mom probably had a BONE to pick with them after they got back," Sans chuckled to himself. In response, Papyrus simply groaned, staring back at the ceiling.

Sans was certainly exhausted; sweating despite the cold. Despite his fatigue, however, there was a voice in his mind telling him, "You must Persevere! Your brother is counting on you!"

Sans desperately wanted to give up; to lie in the cold, wet snow and fall asleep. His Human Soul, however, had other plans.

He had never seen or felt anything like it. After a while it took full control of his body, guiding him and channeling his magic just as he would. It was as if he had become two entities, both of them able to control his body.

When Papyrus finally decided that they should take a break, Sans had leapt at the opportunity, but his Soul persisted, answering for him. Papyrus was worried about him, and perhaps he should be. This was so unlike Sans; so… unnatural. Upon Papyrus' second offer, Sans fought for _his_ decision, hurting his skull in the process.

If he didn't tame this Soul quickly, he would get himself killed. He was weaker than every Monster in the underground, let alone a Human.

The Soul Sans had gotten was the bright purple one: PERSISTENCE. This, of course, was a counterpart to the DETERMINATION in Frisk's Soul. Persistence, however, did not allow the human with it to RESET, it seemed. Only DETERMINATION allowed a Monster or Human to RESET. If other traits allowed this, the past Humans would've simply RESET when they had died.

Sans had studied the Human Souls in Asgore's chambers extensively. He had dissected them, run them through multiple tests, and even temporarily fused with one. As such, he discovered each Soul had its own special trait and what each trait was. There was Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Kindness, Justice, and his new Soul's trait, Perseverance. And this was only with 6 humans. Sans suspected that each human on the surface had their own "Soul trait", some more similar than others.

The main part of his studies was "Soul Fusion", studying how a monster could fuse with a Human Soul. He had figured that the Human Soul that fit a Monster's personality best would naturally fuse with them...

Oh, how wrong he'd been.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Fusion Isn't So Hot… Or Cold

* * *

After pestering his brother about what his trait would be of these for what felt like weeks, Papyrus said, "Sans. If I tell you what trait I think you would be matched best with, will you stop pestering me about it?"

"Yes. I will," Sans answered excitedly. He would finally be able to progress with his study!

"OK, Sans. I think that you would have… bravery? No…" Papyrus was thinking out loud. Papyrus had started doing that recently.

As Papyrus pondered, Sans was getting impatient. Why was this so hard?! Papyrus was his brother for god sake! He should know Sans better than anyone! Even Alphys, who was his work partner and Royal Scientist, didn't know Sans on the level that his brother did.

"… I think you have patience above all," Papyrus finally answered.

If Papyrus had said anything to Sans as he left, he didn't hear it. Sans was already out the door, eager to test his theory on "Soul Fusion". If his theory was correct, it would be a HUGE breakthrough in the study of their acquired souls!

One shortcut later, Sans was hurriedly pulling out his chart of soul colors and the corresponding traits. "Patience… Patience…" Sans was muttering to himself while scanning the chart, "Ah! The light blue soul!"

Sans was rushing so much that he almost dropped the Soul's containment vile. "Woah! Almost lost 'ya there!" He decided to be just a little more careful when handling the Souls. It would be disastrous if even one Soul escaped.

Sans took the light blue Soul out of its vile, letting it float right above his hand. This Soul was the calmest of the 6 captured Human Souls. He had taken them out multiple times in his studies, and this Soul just seemed to prefer not moving over moving. All of the other Souls he had only been able to hold in place using his magic.

His personality matched the light blue one's perfectly, preferring to remain immobile when doing anything. That was one reason why his magic was so strong; he used it for everything and every day.

However, as Sans started to absorb the Human Soul, it burned. And through the pain, there were so many questions running through his mind.

"Why had this failed?" "Why did this hurt so much that he was going to puke?" "WHY did the process not work as common sense dictated?!"

He knew the answer to the last one, but refused to admit it. Human Souls make no sense! They are unruly when in the power of another, and yet they have no mind. They have no personality, but are vastly different in every way imaginable! It seems as if they will meld with one's magic seamlessly, but of course that's not how it works!

He had studied the Souls extensively! Monsters shouldn't even be able to feel a Soul when absorbed, let alone hurt like this!

He had even chose the Soul that most matched his own personality, which should've made the process of mixing their magic that much easier! He'd done everything right, so why had this gone so terribly wrong!?

Then, like a shaft of light shining through the rooftop, it dawned on him.

The Human Soul is much more powerful than a Monster's. It needs a powerful being with lots of physical matter to house it. Flowey had only been able to absorb the 6 captured Souls in "The End" because he had mostly physical matter, about the same ratio of magic/matter as a Human.

That, and Flowey was soulless. He had no inner conflict to have with the Souls. Flowey was an empty husk; a body, a blank canvass for a Soul and its personality to imprint and fuse to.

It had seemed that "Soul Fusion" was impossible without dying and being resurrected, and even then, it wasn't truly Soul fusion. Just a deceased Monster obtaining a Human Soul.

* * *

The last few days had completely invalidated his conclusion to that study. That wasn't even a bad thing. Monsters can fuse their Souls with a Human's, but there seemed to be no logic to it. It may be because they are weaker now, it might be because he was testing the wrong Soul in the first place, or it may just be random; the pain he felt when absorbing the light blue Soul being the result of he himself being weaker back then.

Sans had become much stronger after that incident. He convinced himself that, if he got stronger, he could absorb the Soul painlessly. So he trained. All day and all night (not that those had much meaning when you're underground). Even Papyrus had become worried about him and his sudden change of habit when he had realized.

When Sans felt he had become significantly stronger, he went back to try again. However, Sans was too afraid to try, and couldn't. Maybe all his training had paid off, but now he saw that the possibility was very unlikely. If strength was all you needed, Sans would have found it out long before he tried absorbing a Soul himself.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Confusing Secrets

* * *

Sans woke up very slowly the next morning. He checked his watch. 8 in the morning. Sans groaned. It was too early to be up.

His bones were aching all over. His bed was the equivalent of a few blankets and some pillows put on a creaky old mattress, but Sans had never minded it this much before. And it had certainly never woken him up this early in the morning.

Sans sat up and looked around at his room, or, more accurately, what he could see of it. The self-sustaining tornado of socks right next to his dusty treadmill, and the piles of dirty clothes everywhere; his room was the only room in the house that Papyrus had let him do whatever he wanted to, and be as messy as he desired.

Everything was the same, but Sans felt different as he looked at the mess he called his room. Sans had never liked the state of his room, but he'd never been bothered by it.

He didn't know exactly why, but, before he knew it, he was picking up the clothing piles and folding them.

After cleaning up his room, which took several hours, Sans went downstairs to get Papyrus. When Sans opened his door, however, Papyrus was nowhere to be seen.

"i guess he just went out early to go search for humans," Sans mumbled to himself as he walked down the stairs.

Sans looked at the clock hung next to their door. Then he realized, "right! paps must be over visiting undyne!" It was time for his cooking lesson, or really an hour before.

Sans teleported out to go check on his brother. Knowing Papyrus, he was probably annoying or distracting Undyne from her training or something of the like.

* * *

Papyrus woke up at his normal time: 5 in the morning.

He was always the first one to wake up in the house, except when Sans had a nightmare or stayed up all night. Papyrus never completely understood what Sans' nightmares were, but he always comforted Sans when he was able.

Today, Papyrus decided to check on his brother. Papyrus had started to notice a pattern in the bad dreams. The nightmares usually came around a big change in their lives. After the Human appeared, before Papyrus had fought the Human, when Asgore was killed…

Papyrus didn't want to think about all this…

But Sans hadn't had any nightmares since they had fused with the Souls, so Papyrus expected them to take Sans any day now. And Papyrus would be prepared to ease his brother's worry. He was the Great Papyrus, after all.

As he tip-toed down the hall, Papyrus readied his mind and body for whatever was behind Sans' door.

A monster's magic can react to their fear, anger, or surprise. It's much like the adrenaline rushes that Humans can get in similar dangerous situations. During a nightmare, Sans' magic can be put into overdrive, making it very dangerous for any Monster to get too close.

Even though Sans can only deal 1 damage with a single attack, he always created so many bones that it hardly mattered. Sans' magic was naturally strong, and he could easily dwindle down Papyrus' 680 HP in only a few minutes. Papyrus had almost become a victim of his brother's frantic attacks too many times to count.

When Papyrus reached Sans' cracked door, he was relieved to see his brother sleeping soundly in his bed. Papyrus was happy that Sans could sleep soundly. Even if it was amongst his usual mess. Each nightmare Sans had caused Papyrus more and more worry for his brother's mental state.

Papyrus closed his brother's door and decided to visit Undyne. It was the day of their cooking lesson after all. What harm was there in arriving 4 hours early?

* * *

Papyrus knew the fastest way to Undyne's house, which was taking River Person's ferry, but today he took the "scenic route". He was going to be early to the lesson either way.

But as Papyrus got to the entrance of Waterfall, he groaned. Papyrus had forgotten to leave Sans a note about his whereabouts. Sans would worry about him if he didn't know where Papyrus went.

"Sans can find me if he really needs to. He always does," Papyrus reassured himself, and continued into Waterfall.

Waterfall was noticeably warmer than Snowdin. Even at the entrance, it was as if there was an invisible barrier between the two areas keeping the warmth inside Waterfall's boundaries, Papyrus noticed as he stepped inside the cave.

The ever-flowing, glowing water and soft gossiping of the Echo Flowers gave the area a calm yet surreal feeling. Far different than the happy atmosphere of Snowdin.

Papyrus listened to the Echo Flowers' chatter as he strolled through Waterfall. Then he stumbled upon an interesting conversation. Papyrus couldn't tell who the two Monsters were, but they sounded familiar somehow.

"I think that I fused with a Human Soul."

"Wh-What are you t-t-talking about?"

"Is it that hard to understand?! I have a Human Soul along with my own now!"

"O-ok! Calm down Undyne! I've done some r-research involving 'S-Soul Fusion', rem-member? Let me see your Soul for a second…"

"... Ughh. Alright. You're right Alphy."

So this was Undyne and Alphys. Papyrus let that sink in for a second…

"Wait! That means… UNDYNE!"

Not bothering to listen to the rest of their conversation, Papyrus ran the rest of the way to Undyne's. He had to hear what had happened and know why she was keeping this big of a secret from him.

"You must bring Justice!"

The phrase was ringing through his mind as he blindly sprinted through Waterfall towards Undyne's house.

"She would've gotten her Soul around the same time as Sans and I, which was nearly three days ago! What reason would she have to keep this from us!?"

* * *

Teleporting felt… weird. Sans had never truly understood his powers, but when it came to teleporting, Sans was the expert.

Sans came into a blank place which was something like purgatory. All he needed to do now was think of exactly where he wanted to reappear, and with a snap of his fingers he would be there.

He had been here so many times; a place with no color and no sound. A place he could stay in for hours and mere seconds would pass in the "real" world. A place that let him clear his thoughts.

This "room" had also been a place where he could stew in his own thoughts and worries to the point of paranoia. Too many times had it gotten to that point.

Sans had never truly understood teleportation, but he could do it instinctively. It was almost like he had been taught how to do it.

Of course, this could have never happened. Sans had been alone for as long as he could remember.

... "Sans… SANS. SANS!"

That voice was all Sans could remember of his past. That single, loud voice. It definitely wasn't Papyrus. Perhaps it had been his Mother or Father. Maybe even another brother. But Sans couldn't remember any of it.

If he was honest, the first memory he could recall easily was only a few weeks before Papyrus had arrived in Snowdin. Maybe he hadn't cared enough to remember his life before, or maybe one of the Humans who had fallen down did this to him.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Past Worth Noting

* * *

Note: This is a sort of long flashback just to establish the characters of Sans and Papyrus. I'm sorry that this interrupts an action-packed scene. It wasn't my intention to make this story boring, but I felt it was necessary to give Sans and Papyrus a backstory. I'm very sorry if this is an inconvenience to anyone's reading pleasure. Please just bear with me here. I will get back to the present sooner or later.

* * *

As Sans sat at his usual spot at Grilby's, he listened in on other Monsters' conversations.

"Hey. Did you see that new guy around?"

"Yeah. He's a skeleton, right?"

"Yeah. Maybe he's related to Sans."

"That'd be a laugh! He's nothing like Sans! He hasn't walked into Grilby's since he got here!"

"Hahaha!" The two laughed as if it was the best joke either had ever heard.

These people were making Sans crazy! All of Snowdin was acting like this new skeleton in town was so much better than Sans. He was literally all the town could talk about, and the guy'd moved in a week ago!

Sans got up from his seat at Grilby's, leaving his half-empty bottle of ketchup on the bar.

"Put it on my tab, Grilbz. I have to go do something," Sans said as he was leaving.

Grilby was a Monster who was incapable of speech, but Sans knew that Grilby would put the ketchup on his tab no matter what.

Sans had not introduced himself to the skeleton yet. Even after all this time, Sans was still hesitant to greet any new visitor. Ever since he first arrived in Snowdin, he wasn't ever the most talkative Monster ever.

He hardly went out; most of his day was spent sleeping. And when he did go outside, he acted very antisocial.

Most of the residents saw him as weird or mysterious, but Sans didn't really care. He only cared about people not asking too many questions.

He had just woken up in the snow outside of Snowdin without any recollection of what had happened before. He decided to live here without any idea of how he got here or where he came from. All he could tell was that he was new to Snowdin.

As Sans walked through town today, he noticed that the residents were acting strangely. They were talking in hushed voices, and when Sans went up to a small group to ask if they had seen the new skeleton, they practically jumped out of their skin. What was the deal?! No one was going to give him answers, so he just continued his search for the new guy.

Finally, he spotted the skeleton walking down the road with several brown bags in his gloved hands. "Probably groceries," Sans thought.

The skeleton stuck out like a sore thumb. He was about 6 inches taller than anyone else in town, towering over Sans. He was wearing a brightly colored shirt with "Cool Dude" and pixelated sunglasses on the front. He was also wearing some blue jean pants and fluffy snow boots, the same style of his gloves. He had a odd but pretty cool fashion sense it seemed.

The skeleton was happily humming to himself, so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn't notice Sans jumping up and down trying to get his attention.

Sans was never the best at getting someone's attention. He was never the tallest Monster in the Underground (even Alphys was a little taller than him), but this newcomer dwarfed him in size. Sans was also a fairly soft-spoken Monster. He often found it hard to talk over others. It was easy when he cared about it, but he didn't care about much around here.

After a few more minutes of Sans trying to get the other skeleton's attention, he tried going in front of him. This, thankfully, finally worked.

"Hello! I don't believe we've met before! I am Papyrus! What's your name?" Papyrus said cheerfully, extending his hand, "Oh! You're a skeleton like me!" he said as Sans took it. It would've been rude not to return the gesture.

"Heh. Yeah. People say that I'm bad to the BONE."

The tall skeleton groaned in response, but Sans saw his already huge smile widen as he continued speaking.

"Anyway, I didn't know there were other skeletons living here! Why are you wearing that jacket? Can you feel the cold? Is it freezing? I can't feel it, but dad says every skeleton is different."

Papyrus' imitation of his dad was rather funny, Sans thought, and gave him a genuine chuckle.

The taller skeleton barely acknowledged it however as he continued.

"Hey, who's your dad? Maybe we can have a 'dad party'! Where do you live? I could come over some time! We could make spaghetti! Do you like spaghetti? Dad is allergic to it, so I don't have much practice…"

After only a moment of thought, Papyrus said, "I have an idea! You can be the first to try my 'Super Special Spaghetti Surprise'! It's settled! Come over to my house at noon, and I'll make us some spaghetti! We can use my kitchen!" Papyrus exclaimed excitedly without giving Sans a chance to answer any of his multiple questions.

"Thanks. I'll be there. By the way, th' name's Sans." Sans said as calmly as he could. Papyrus' barrage of questions was so different from any of the other townsfolk he had met. It caught him off-guard.

Everything about this monster was the polar opposite of Sans. Papyrus was happy, excited, loud, motivated, and seemingly willing to drop whatever he was doing just to greet Sans. Papyrus had also talked so fast that Sans was sure he didn't catch everything the tall skeleton had said.

* * *

It only took Sans a few minutes to find Papyrus' house at noon. Sans had decided to walk to his house, but Snowdin was a pretty small town. Even Sans could get from one end of the town to the other in only 5 minutes.

Papyrus' house was very big and nicely decorated. It was by far the biggest and oldest house in Snowdin. It had been there before Sans had come to Snowdin, and he was surprised to find that no Monster had lived there since its construction. He'd found that it was mostly due to the price.

Sans had never been the richest Monster, but none of the other Snowdin residents could afford to live there either. That's why he was so surprised that Papyrus could afford the huge house's price.

Papyrus already had a mailbox in front of the house with his name engraved on its side. This was clearly a well-off Monster.

As Sans walked up the steps, he started to get cold feet. He had never been invited to another Monster's place since he arrived. He hardly even spoke to the other Monsters. This would be the first time he actually had a real conversation with someone else to his recollection.

This Monster was vastly different than Snowdin's other residents. He asked too many questions. What if he asked Sans where he lived? What if he wanted to meet his dad? How would the other skeleton react if Sans told him the truth?


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Dangerous Fears

Sans shook his head. This was just Papyrus being friendly. Nothing but a Monster being overly kind. If Sans didn't want to talk, he just wouldn't. He shouldn't be worrying about this so much.

Sans knocked on the door. He could hear loud crashes coming from inside. Moments later, Papyrus swung open the door with a huge smile on his face. "Hello! Come in! I still have some things to get set up, but you're welcome inside!" Papyrus greeted him. Sans couldn't help but smile back as the tall skeleton greeted him. Papyrus seemed to do that to Monsters.

Papyrus' house was very well kept. The only sign that he had just moved in was the lack of furniture, besides an old sofa next to a "wall window". The house itself was in pristine condition. It was almost sparkling. Papyrus obviously spent a lot of time cleaning.

"I hope it wasn't too much trouble to come over on such short notice. I'm sure you have more important things to be doing,"

"Don't worry about it," Sans answered, "I don't really have much on my schedule." He had already found himself a comfy spot on the couch.

He had been invited to Papyrus' house only two hours before, but Sans didn't have anything else going on. It was pretty easy to "find time" to meet up with Papyrus.

"I really am sorry. I just got so excited to finally meet you. I've seen you around town, but you never seemed to want to talk." Papyrus said from the kitchen, clanging around as if he were drumming on the pans.

"It really was no problem. I've also seen you around town, but you just seemed to be doing something else every time," Sans shrugged.

That wasn't entirely a lie. Sans had seen Papyrus a couple times as he was watching the foot-traffic outside Grilby's. Papyrus was always carrying bags, strolling in a way that made him look like a "monster on a mission", or talking with the other residents. Papyrus certainly kept himself busy.

Unlike Sans.

Sans was usually at Grilby's or sleeping, so he was surprised that Papyrus had even seen him around. The only time he went out was to get his weekly supply of food. Sans was too lazy to even do that half of the time. He just ate at Grilby's anyway.

Another, louder crash came from the kitchen and Sans jumped, his left eye lighting up a greenish-blue color.

"Hey. Lemme come help."

"Not to worry! Everything is okay! Anyway, I'm so glad you could come! I don't get many visitors."

Papyrus was practically yelling over the sound of his stove.

"I'm surprised. You're pretty great."

Papyrus didn't respond, and Sans immediately got worried. How had he left even Papyrus speechless?

He just meant that Papyrus… ugh… Even he didn't know exactly what he meant.

"I guess just 'cause he's not like me," Sans thought.

Sans had met many Monsters who had given up. Ones who thought that they'd never get to The Surface. Some even believed it was imaginary. Just a story the royal family made up to keep them at peace.

Sans knew that The Surface was real. Sans took a detour to the CORE almost every time he went out to see if he could find anything of value in the trash there.

One day, as he was rummaging through the dumpsters outside of the CORE, he found a stack of old magazines. They all were a Human series titled National Geographic. He brought them home, reading each and every edition. He even found newer ones sometimes. They detailed so many interesting things about The Surface. Sans knew that these books were far too detailed to be a lie of the royals.

* * *

"All done!" Papyrus yelled from the kitchen.

Sans had fallen asleep on the couch, but was quickly awoken by Papyrus' loud voice echoing through the empty house.

When Sans went into the kitchen to help Papyrus out, he discovered why the simple lunch had taken so long.

The kitchen was a complete mess. Cooking utensils were everywhere. There were crushed tomatoes on the walls and ceiling. Papyrus' apron had even gotten slightly burnt.

"Woah! Lemme help 'ya with cleaning up!" Sans said as he dashed to the counter where most of the mess was.

"It is okay, my friend Sans. This is just the aftermath of cooking with your heart!" Papyrus said proudly.

When Sans didn't respond, he went on. "It is messy because of the passion I put into making this. I-"

Papyrus was suddenly cut off.

Sans wondered why for a moment, and then he realized he was using his magic to clean the counters. He was levitating 4 rags at once, all working on different things.

Sans used his magic for anything and everything, but he had never let another Monster see him use it. He immediately dropped the rags, laughing it off.

"Heh heh heh… You didn't see that, did you?"

It was obvious that Papyrus had seen Sans using his magic. If it hadn't been attached to him, Papyrus' jaw would have clattered onto the floor.

Papyrus' expression was that of surprise, yes, but not one of terror. Sans thought that Papyrus would be scared of Sans' unusual magic. Perhaps it was just another irrational fear he had…

After a long pause, Papyrus spoke, "Sans."

"Yes, Papyrus?" Sans was scared. He was scared of what Papyrus thought of him. He was scared of what Papyrus would say to the others. And he was especially scared of what his next words would be.

"… I will teach you how to use magic properly. You could even stay here. It's pretty obvious that you don't have a place around here."

Sans did live at the inn, but he stayed silent. He had that much pride left.

Papyrus continued. "This must be a lot for you, but please. I want to help you."

He thought.

For some reason, Sans knew those words; "I want to help you". It was as if he'd heard them before.

"Alright. I understand if-" Papyrus took Sans' silence as a quiet "no".

"Ok. I'll stay with you… You know more than you let on."

"Really?! You looked like you were going to run away…"

He had wanted to run from this. This whole situation. The world. Papyrus. But he couldn't run. He wouldn't run from him. This Monster had accepted him, with all his… problems…

"Nah. Plus it'll be fun. You're The Great Papyrus! It'd be awesome to learn from you!"

Sans had heard a lot of the townsfolk calling the skeleton "Great," just as a joke. But when Sans said it, the compliment was genuine. Papyrus really was the greatest Monster in the Underground.

"THANK YOU! You are a wonderful brother!"

"...Brother?" Sans did NOT expect that.

"Yes! Isn't that what people who live together call each other?"

"…um… Yeah, bro"

It wasn't untrue. Not really correct either, but not completely wrong. And it would feel nice to have some "family".

"Wowie! Ok! We will start our first lesson… right now!"

"Wait! I don't think I'm ready for that!" Sans was still trying to wrap his mind around all this.

But Papyrus was already pushing him out the door and into the forest outside of town.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: An Answer Would Be Most Appreciated

Sans had been in the "teleport-void" for longer than he'd wanted to, but it never mattered too much. Time never really passed here. He just needed to remember to re-appear in the real world at some point. He'd do it later. This was relaxing… He couldn't even remember why he was- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

* * *

Papyrus was winded as he arrived at Undyne's house.

Papyrus checked the old watch Sans had given him. It was 6 AM. Sans would be awake in about an hour or two. Though, he wouldn't get out of bed until at least 10. Let alone go looking for Papyrus.

Papyrus always loved going to Undyne's house. Even after she became the empress, she still lived in her Waterfall home, simply traveling to the castle when she was needed there.

Her house seemed to have a mind of its own. The house had two windows that made it look as if it were alive, and the door was pretty much a huge mouth. It looked like a bigger, scarier version of Undyne herself.

As Papyrus knocked on the door, he wondered if he should have brought a bone over for Undyne. She always appreciated them. She even had a special spot where she kept all the bones he brought her.

Though today he needed to get some answers from her.

As usual, Undyne opened the door with a huge, toothy grin on her face. If Papyrus wasn't already her friend, he would've been scared that she'd dust him. She still intimidated Papyrus, but he always reassured himself with the fact that she was still a friend.

"Hey Papyrus! I didn't expect you to be so early! Well, I won't make you stand out there. Come on in!"

The interior of Undyne's house was very cool. Not as cool as his, but still cool. In the corner was a huge sword next to the dining room table, on the other side of the house was a grand piano, and against the wall in front of him was her countertop and stove.

Undyne insisted that their cooking lessons should always be at her house, particularly because of her top-of-the-line stove. Though Papyrus suspected that she was also trying to not set his Snowdin home on fire.

A house fire was usually the result of their cooking lessons. Waterfall was just more damp, and the fires they caused here were put out over time.

As Papyrus sat at her table, he twiddled his thumbs and wondered what the best way to question Undyne would be.

Would he have to break a facade, or would she just give up the information willingly?

"Hey Papyrus."

Should Papyrus risk showing her his new Soul to show her that he had the same problem?

"Papyrus."

Or was he just wrong about this whole thing? Were there even two Undynes in the Underground?

"PAPYRUS!"

Undyne's yell shook Papyrus from his thoughts, "GAH! What is it, Undyne?"

"I was trying to ask you if you wanted your tea with or without sugar. But it seems like you have something else on your mind."

"I would like sugar today. And yes… I do have something on my mind."

"And what's that?" Undyne asked as she started to prepare their tea.

"Ahhh… uhhmm… well…"

"Spit it out Papyrus." She seemed to be losing patience with him.

Papyrus didn't expect it, but this set him over a limit he didn't know he had.

"You have a Human Soul! And you didn't tell me?! I thought we were supposed to be friends!"

Papyrus sent a bone flying at Undyne. He didn't mean to, but it felt right… in a sense. He wasn't thinking about hurting his friend, but about bringing Justice.

Thankfully, Undyne dodged his attack just in time.

"Oh my god Papyrus. Calm down! We can talk about it, but certainly not while you're like this!"

He immediately stopped where he stood.

Papyrus was caught off guard at Undyne's tone. She was scared. He'd never thought of Undyne to be scared. Meek even. She spoke as if he was a monster. In a sense, he was. What was he thinking, hurting a friend and training partner like that?

Papyrus let himself relax and Undyne let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay. Thanks Paps. And yeah. I have been keeping this from you."

So she was keeping it from him intentionally.

Traitor.

Papyrus shook his head. "No," Papyrus thought, "I'm the traitor here, not her…"

"Why not you sit down so we can talk somewhere more comfortable?"

"Sure Undyne."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: All is Explained in Time

As Sans woke up, he suddenly remembered that Papyrus was still probably bothering Undyne. Not for Paps' sake, but for his own, he had to leave right now and go to Undyne's house. So with a snap of his fingers he was right outside Undyne's abode.

He could hear soft voices from inside. Sans couldn't make out what they were saying, but he assumed it was Papyrus and Undyne talking amongst the usual crashing. They did that a lot when Papyrus arrived early.

"i guess Paps is ok. but i've always wondered what their lessons are like." Sans thought to himself.

Sans knocked on her door and it opened in only a few seconds. Undyne had a look of surprise on her face.

"Oh! Hey Sans. Paps and I were just talking about… stuff."

Undyne seemed nervous. What had he walked in on?

"ah. okay. well i guess i'll leave if Paps is ok."

"... Nah. Why… don't you… come in...?" Undyne said with a grimace.

He was obviously interrupting something. But what was the problem? … What had he walked in on?

Then Sans heard Papyrus' voice from inside.

"Perfect. Now Sans can hear what you have to say too."

Sans was so utterly confused and yet intrigued at the same time. These two were acting so differently.

And he got to sit back and watch the fireworks.

Sans went in and sat at Undyne's table. "so. undyne. what is it that Paps and i need to hear?"

"Well…" Undyne started, "Papyrus heard that I got a human soul… and he's right."

"oh. huh."

"Oh my god Sans. Do you seriously have no reaction to this?!"

"i'm just not surprised. stuff like this can happen. and after something happens for the third time, it isn't that hard to believe."

"Wait. THIRD TIME?! How many Monsters do you know who have human Souls?!"

"well… there's me, Paps, and now you. and there should be 3 more out there. so, needless to say, it's unsurprising."

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?!"

"never mind that. let me see your soul for a second."

"AND WHY WOULD I LET YOU DO THAT?"

"Undyne. Sans can help. I know he can," Papyrus chimed in.

"... Fine. But I demand answers."

"ok."

Undyne displayed her new Soul. A green one, like the grass on the surface.

"hmm. so you got the green soul. that represents kindness. interesting."

"Hey. Can SOMEONE tell me what's going on here?!"

Sans continued to ignore Undyne's growing anger and turned to Papyrus.

"hey bro. lemme see your soul again. i forgot the color."

"Alright. But you should make an effort to remember this kind of thing."

"don't worry. i will next time."

"Ok. That's good," Papyrus said as brilliant yellow soul appeared before him.

"and that must be the justice soul. also very intriguing," Sans muttered to himself.

"Hello! Earth to Sans! Can somebody clue me in to what's happening?"

* * *

"What the h*ll are you even talking about?!"

In response, Papyrus simply shrugged.

Papyrus hadn't an inkling of what Sans was talking about as well.

After his inspection of their Souls, Sans had been unusually quiet. And he wouldn't look at them.

There were several minutes of silence Papyrus could only assume was his brother deep in thought. Or Sans was staring at the ripples of his steaming drink absentmindedly. Both were viable options, considering.

Sans blinked. "well. i guess i was wrong," Sans muttered after he had finished inspecting his tea.

Undyne drew her spear, and summoned ten more just about to attack, just as Sans teleported out of the house. His brother was probably heading to Snowdin.

"That PUNK! Does he think he can just run away from me?!"

"Hey! Undyne! Calm down! He seems to be really sad right now. I may not know why, but it's no reason to…" Papyrus trailed off.

It WAS a reason to be angry. Papyrus knew he had to protect his brother at all costs, but at the same time he saw Undyne as justified in her attempted attack on the spot Sans had stood just moments before.

"I have to leave too… I may miss our cooking lesson. But we can reschedule!"

Papyrus ran out the door without looking back. Undyne yelled something to him but he didn't stop, nor did he care to listen. He needed to get home and find Sans.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Souls of Humans and Monsters

Alphys sat in her lab, watching her favorite show, Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. The recap of scenes she'd seen a hundred times was playing. She liked the familiarity of the anime. It made her feel safer and helped her… think. Yeah… That was it. Think…

"Oh… Who am I kidding…" Alphys thought, "My whole job is a lie anyway…"

Alphys had always done this. Make excuses for herself. Lie just to comfort herself and those around her. But now the bright yellow lizard couldn't lie to herself anymore.

She had consulted her old charts about the Human Souls, and she confirmed that her new Human Soul was in fact Integrity.

She looked it up in many human books with word meanings inside them. "Dictionaries" they were called, if she remembered correctly.

"Integrity: having strong morals and being fundamentally honest."

That wasn't like her at all…

She lied to Asgore in order to become the Royal Scientist, lied to Undyne to get the fish-like Monster to like her, and she had lied to the Human bout… everything. Not to mention her treatment of… them…

She did not deserve the Integrity Soul.

But nevertheless, the dark blue Soul had chosen Alphys to be its host. She had to try to not upset or conflict with it.

Alphys was shaken from her thoughts when the theme song for Mew Mew Kissy Cutie came on. Usually she only watched anime with Undyne, at least the new episodes. Undyne had made up choreography for the theme song of each and every one. Though Undyne's dance for this theme song was particularly complex and utterly spectacular.

Alphys missed her a lot.

"But these are just old episodes. Undyne wouldn't want to bother herself with these," Alphys thought bitterly.

Then she remembered that night in Waterfall…

"I have to help Undyne somehow," she thought more to herself.

She told Undyne she could fix it. She had to at least try.

Alphys gathered the resolve to turn off the show and get back to helping Undyne.

She called Undyne on the phone Alphys gave to her.

No answer…

Perhaps Alphys gave up too quickly, but she was tired. Too tired.

"I guess it's back to re-runs then…" Alphys said to herself. She turned her monitor back on.

* * *

Papyrus ran like he'd never run before. Even if Undyne was chasing him, he knew she wouldn't be able to catch him. He sprinted out of Waterfall, and as the cold of Snowdin chilled his bones, he started to slow down.

By the time he got to his and Sans' house, he had slowed to a walking pace.

Papyrus, more tired than he'd ever been, crawled up their front steps. The stairs seemed as if they had grown at least a foot higher than normal. Papyrus tripped over them, sending him crashing to the base of their porch, partially covered in snow.

He slowly got up and knocked on the door, brushing off any splinters he had gotten and the snow that had gathered on his shoulders and scarf. Sans should've answered to his knocking, but he didn't. In fact, Sans should've come running out when he heard the loud thud on their porch. Papyrus felt that familiar tingle of worry working it's way up his spine.

He then resorted to his handy key, only to find the door unlocked.

Did he really leave the door unlocked again? Ugh… "Well, I guess there aren't any people who would want to come in when we're not there," Papyrus reassured himself.

He walked inside, but something felt… off. He couldn't quite put a finger on it.

That was before he saw Sans.

His brother was curled into a ball on their stiff couch. Papyrus could hear sobbing, though it was soft. Papyrus ran up to Sans, closing the door behind him. What had happened to drive his brother to tears?

"Oh my gosh! Sans, are you alright?" Papyrus asked with concern.

"… oh… hi. nah bro. but you don't gotta worry 'bout me…" Sans said through his sobbs. They were getting louder.

Papyrus had to do something about this.

"What happened? What did we say? How'd we upset you?"

His brother didn't answer.

"… Sans…" Papyrus softly urged his brother.

"i told'ja bro… there's no need to worry… you didn't do anything," his brother managed to mutter.

But Sans surely knew that Papyrus would not simply leave him alone as his brother cried. Sans didn't put up much resistance when Papyrus pulled him into a hug, staying like that for what seemed like several hours.

"there's no… need… to… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…" Sans murmured as he fell asleep.

Sans fell asleep in his brother's arms a lot. Papyrus believed that was due, in part, to the connection Sans held with him. Sans certainly trusted Papyrus a lot. Especially compared to other Monsters.

Papyrus picked up the sleeping Sans and brought him to his room. Sans' joints would be aching if he slept on their old couch.

As Papyrus walked into Sans' room, he was immediately stunned at how clean the room was. Clothes were picked up and folded, his brother's bed was made, and Sans had even picked up most of the crumbs that were always littering the floor.

"I guess I have been rubbing off on you," Papyrus thought proudly. He set Sans in his bed and wrapped him in a nice, warm, fluffy blanket. Only the best for Sans.

Papyrus would ask Sans about his outburst tomorrow. For now his brother needed his rest.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The New Lost Soul, But Where Are The Other Two?

When Sans woke up, he was in a dark room. How long had he been asleep? He was half choking on a blanket that nearly engulfed him. Sans struggled under its weight.

When he finally managed to haul it off of him, Sans took the opportunity to breathe. He noticed his eye sockets were somewhat… crusty? How had that-

Oh. Right.

Then the thought occurred to him: how was Papyrus?

His bro was always worried, with good reason, when Sans broke up like this… Sans didn't want to cause Paps more worry than he already surely had.

Sans hastily got out of bed, tripping over the huge blanket in the process. He picked it up, wrapping himself in it. The soft, heaviness of it was comforting when he wasn't being suffocated by its fluff.

When Sans headed downstairs, he noticed that Papyrus wasn't awake yet. Otherwise there would be crashes in their kitchen or, at the very least, some sort of scuffling and the sounds of brewing coffee. Sans had never been out of his room while Papyrus was still asleep.

It was an odd feeling.

Sans decided to check on Papyrus in his room. It felt wrong not to.

In order to eliminate the creak of a door waking his (probably) sleeping brother, Sans teleported into Paps' room.

Yep. Sleeping soundly.

Sans didn't know what he had been expecting, but this didn't seem to be it. Nevertheless, Sans was happy his brother was sound asleep.

He had somewhere he needed to be.

Sans teleported out of the room, heading to Hotland.

* * *

Alphys was startled out of her half-asleep daze when she heard the knock at her door. Or maybe it was more like a loud clicking. It wasn't Undyne; she would have caused a banging to make her table shake.

Who could it be at this time of morning? Not even the royal guards who stood outside her lab were there.

Not to mention that Alphys was undoubtedly a mess, which made it all the harder to open the door. She had stayed in the lab watching anime all night. For the third day in a row. Her clothes were wrinkled and dirty, and she was sure she looked horrid otherwise.

But then the clicking knock came again, so she answered it reluctantly.

She was extremely surprised to see a short skeleton wearing an off-blue jacket and turtleneck sweater underneath. Undoubtedly this Monster was not from Hotland.

Alphys studied the skeleton in silence. She couldn't decide if it was just a dirty blue jacket or just a light blue-grey color, and the jacket was very stretched and big for its owner. But the oddest thing by far was that this skeleton standing in her doorway looked familiar somehow.

"heya," he said, with a plastered on smile.

Alphys had definitely been staring.

"O-oh. Hi! S-sorry about this," Alphys replied, gesturing to herself, "Was there something y-you needed?"

Alphys hated her stuttering, and it was even worse than ever now. But the skeleton didn't make a remark about it. Instead, he stood completely silent, propped against the door frame, studying her. He looked somewhat confused, but Alphys had no idea why.

"oh… ummmm… not really. just wanna… ask you about something."

"O-oh. Al-alright. Ask away. I-i am the Royal Scientist a-after all."

"... why not we go inside first?"

"S-s-sure…" The skeleton had a tone of urgency in his rasp-like vioce, and Alphys couldn't help but trust this apparent stranger.

As they went inside, Alphys immediately regretted it. She didn't mind the state her lab was in, but on the rare occasion she had guests, she fretted over every little thing.

But the skeleton spared her a lecture, unlike how Undyne would've. She was grateful once again to him.

"Now, what w-was it that you n-needed to ask?" Alphys asked as she closed the door with a remote.

"i just had a question about you actually. well, now two."

The short skeleton seemed to still be confused, but now he also sounded confrontational. Not a good mixture.

"O-oh. What are t-they then?"

"so first, do you recognise me?"

That was an odd question, but Alphys was truthful. "Yes. You do s-seem familiar, but I can't put a claw o-on it…"

"alright. we used to work in the lab together. but that was a long time ago... now secondly," he said, putting on a more serious expression, "have you recently gotten a human soul? it's weird but it's really important."

Again, Alphys was truthful.

"Y-yes… How do you know about that though?" Where her almost too plentiful amount of tact would usually stop her from saying anything like that, her Soul desired honesty above all. Alphys put up no resistance.

"ah. i had a feeling that was the case. welp. i gotta introduce myself now," he said, going back to what seemed like his signature smile without missing a beat, "hi. i'm sans, sans the skeleton. i live in snowdin town, but before that i was helping you and asgore with the research of human souls."

"W-w-wait… That was y-you?!"

"yep. science is in my BONES," Sans said, laughing to himself when Alphys didn't react to the quite obvious pun.

Alphys normally liked puns and wordplay, but she was having a hard time processing everything happening.

"W-well… Hmm… You said you live i-in Snowdin?" That would explain the outfit.

"that's right."

"Alright…"

Sans and Alphys stood in the lab awkwardly as Alphys pondered over what to say next. Though it seemed as if Sans was contemplating something as well. Sans was the first to speak.

"well, one thing to be aware of is that there are three other monsters with human souls living here now. so you're not the only lost soul. heh," Sans laughed at his pun, and although that particular one wasn't to the usual standard, Alphys smiled a bit. It was a very anxious smile, but a smile nonetheless. She was grateful for that. But something Sans had said just wasn't right…

"W-wait. Three others? I knew a-about Undyne, but who else could withstand a H-human Soul's power?"

"apparently, that'd be me and my bro. oh yeah, that's the other important thing," Sans said, sheepishly rubbing his skull.

"W-w-why not I try t-to help."

"sure. that'd work. i'll tell paps 'bout it."


End file.
